Brother, in the brethren all

(Jn 1:29-34)

In the Fourth Gospel, the Baptist is not "the forerunner", but a "witness" of the Lamb Light that raises fundamental questions.

Alarmed, the authorities put him under investigation.

But it is not he who sweeps away 'sin' - the humiliation of unbridgeable distances - and the inability to correspond to the personal Vocation, for Life without limit.

Impediment even underlined by the logic 'of the world': by false teaching, by the very structure of the ancient official institution, so bound up with the intertwining of religion and power.

Condemned at the 'midday' [peak and full light] of Easter Eve, Jesus crosses his earthly turn with the hour when the Temple priests began to immolate the propitiation lambs [originally an apotropaic sacrifice preceding the transhumance].

As with the Lamb of the fathers in a foreign land, who had spared them from slaughter - his Blood gives impetus to cross the land of barren slavery.

"Egypt" of the pharaohs, devoid of warmth and intimate consonance (which lead us to an early death).

As is well known, the effigy of the Lamb belongs to the sacrificial theological strand, stemming from the famous text of Isaiah 53 and from the whole sacred imaginary of the ancient East [which had elaborated a widespread literature and thought on the Messiah King].

According to the biblical conception, the ruler gathered within himself and represented the entire people. The Anointed One would have the ideal task of dragging away and atoning for human iniquities.

But Jesus does not 'atone' but 'extirpates'. Nor does he 'propitiate': the Father does not reject the precarious condition of his creatures, nor does he establish a protectorate favourable to a circle (like the God of archaic religions).

In Christ who 'upholds and takes away' all our shame and weaknesses, the Father's action becomes intimate - and therefore decisive.

He does not annihilate transgressions with a kind of amnesty, even vicarious: it would not be authentic salvation to touch only the peripheries and not the Core, to reactivate us.

An external habit does not belong to us and will never be ours; it is not assimilated, nor does it become real life. Amnesties do not educate, far from it.

It is true that a little lamb in a world of cunning wolves has no chance. To present it, means to see it perish, but not as a designated victim: it was the only way for the beasts that believe themselves to be people to understand that they are still just beasts.

The Risen One introduces a new force into the world, a different dynamism, a way of educating the soul that becomes a conscious process.

It is only by educating us that the Risen One annihilates and overcomes the instincts of the beasts that pounce on each other, believing themselves to be true - even spiritual - human beings.

A third allusion to the figure of the Lamb insists on the votive icon and archetypal category associated with Abraham's sacrifice, where God Himself provides the victim (Gen 22).

Of course he provides: he did not create us angelic, but unsteady, transitory. Yet, every divine Gift passes through our shaky condition - which is not sin, nor guilt, but given; nourishment, and resource.

We are Perfect in the multiplicity of our creaturely sides, even in limitation: a blasphemy for the ancient religious man... a reality for the man of Faith.

The authentic Lamb is not just a (moral) reference: the meekness of those who are called to give everything of themselves, even their skin.

It is an image of the blatant boundary of those who would never make it in life, so they let themselves be found and carried on their shoulders.

In this way, no decision-making delusions.

It will be the Friend of our vocational nucleus who will transmit strength and devise the way to get us back to the Home that is truly ours: the Tent that mends the scattered events.

Home that reknits all the being that we should have - and perhaps could have - brought to bear.

The different paths that lead to the founding Eros that belongs to us, intimate and superior, are both authentic and unique to each one.

The Perfection that will emerge along the Path already corresponds to us.

Then the desire to improve according to ancient or other people's paradigms will no longer be a torment that enervates the soul, diminishing its completeness.

Incarnation here means that the Lamb is a representation of a welcomed - unusual - totality of the divine Face in men.

A totality that is finally firm - paradoxical, reconciled - that recovers its innocent, natural, spontaneous opposite, incapable of miracles.

Difference between religiosity and Faith.

That of the Lamb is not a self already with a course of its own; equipped, self-confident and able to find its way in the world. Perhaps to be accepted, not to be outdone, to always be in the foreground.

It is the passive virtues and weak sides - not the artificial, window-dressing ones - that activate the best, most fruitful parts of us, capable of making us look inside. 

All this, in order to walk ourselves and our brothers, overcoming secret sides and anxieties; transmitting life.

Lamb: not a wanting to be there at all costs and as protagonists, always at ease, with exhibited certainties; too exposed to projections, to other desires to be protagonists - and not to lose positions.

When we put ourselves on stage, we remain completely external and displace our faculties, the other capacities of the heart - such as the need to yield, to let go in order to prepare for something else we do not know. And turn our gaze, discover new orientations, or symbiosis with the different.

This is why we speak of a 'revolution of tenderness' [see below] - which cannot be a guided cultural mask, or an expropriating conditioning.

In the end, one notices the artificial people: they play at holiness - some only to gain the spiritual upper hand over the naive and innocent taken in by the authentically interior and fraternal gaze.

The Lamb is the image of a stability in goodness first of all received as a gift and perhaps not even invoked, but recognisable - which then reveals both the innate silence and the unexpected colours of the soul, and of events.

Step by step it becomes a profound knowledge of ourselves, a guiding figure and a solid dialogue to which we entrust ourselves, activating that singular hope filled with intensity that wrenches us from infatuation.

We hang from its universal and simple lips.

They open the consciousness - surpassing both our demons and the shrill resonances of those who flank each other to feel important (and govern relationships).

Embracing the Lamb, we enter into the right spirit of the inner journey. Then we willingly continue - never alone and orphaned; as Togetherness - in the search for our own unique way of completing ourselves and making ourselves Food.

The Tao Tê Ching (xv) asks:

"Who is capable of being motionless in order to make one calmly rest? Who is capable of being placid so as to make one live slowly, removing at length?".

Master Wang Pi comments:

"The man of supreme virtue is like this: his omens are not discernible, the direction of his virtue is not manifest. If he perfects creatures by remaining obscure, he comes to enlighten them; if he makes creatures rest by being motionless, he comes to enlighten them; if he removes creatures by being placid, he comes to make them live.

Christ the Lamb is definitely the beneficial therapeutic effigy of the soul that seeks nourishment - and of our energetic lot, even during normal occupations.

Then it will seem almost like a song, vibrating around.

To internalise and live the message:

What does the expression "the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world" mean to you?

Healthy tenderness: selfishness without reduction

The saint is he who, walking his own path in the wake of the Risen One, has learnt to "identify himself with the other, regardless of where [or] from where [...] ultimately experiencing that others are his own flesh" (cf. FT 84).

No plant lives only in the light: it would die. No animal: it would perish - if it did not have its lair in the shade.

The man who denies his dark side, lies. And he would never enjoy Joy, the fruit of Allence among our multifaceted facets.

Biblical spirituality is not empty; on the contrary, it is very sober and connected to concrete and multifaceted life, at times opposite - not at all prone to consolatory or one-sided sentimentalistic retreats.

In Deut 6:4-5 [Hebrew text] the love owed to the Lord invests "the whole heart" i.e. all decisions, "the whole life" i.e. every moment of existence, and "all your much". That is, the sharing of goods; which the Son of God means in a universal sense.

Jesus' proposal evolves decisively towards overcoming fences, freedom, and awareness.

It tends to recover the entire creaturely being - and is not even inclined to the liturgy of fulfilments, nor to enhancing performances.

The Son of God defines the coordinates of true Love towards the Father in terms that surprise us, because he adds to the ancient criterion the questioning of the intelligence of the things of man, God and the Church.

To realise, to seek to understand, to dialogue in order to enrich oneself, to bring oneself up to date, to scrutinise everything... these are not cerebral and individual trappings, but decisive steps towards communion with others and with the Father [Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30; Lk 10:27].

In pagan religions it made no sense to speak of love for the gods.

They lived capricious lives and decided by lottery who should be favoured among men and who should endure a life of hardship and insignificance.

The lucky (materially blessed) ones gave thanks by fulfilling prescriptions, e.g. worship obligations; the others idem - at least to keep the heavenly hosts happy and thus not be subject to retaliation from above.

Fear creates hierarchical pyramids. Love puts one on an equal footing. 

Obviously - with the cloak of the many duties to be observed (in order to curry favour) - it was impossible to have such passion for the denizens of Olympus, or demigods, nymphs, heroes - in short, for anyone above them.

For the unseen and landless, personal and social contempt was of course reserved - sacralised by the unquestionable supernal will, identified with the destination to the lower class; in the case, punitive. However, swampy.

[Other than 'bowels of mercy': a maternal expression, common since the First Testament!]

Then the archaic idea of chastisement or blessing (even without end) for merits heaped up in life formed the fabric of the religious mentality of all times.

This until recently, even in the civitas christiana in which we live.

So the 'theology of retribution' has effectively annihilated all personal passion, with the hypocritical idea of exchange. As well as meritocracy projected even to the rank of Paradise - worst of all selfishness.

By levelling us all to the affixing of 'ticks'.

The complex procedures of the 'weighing of the heart' and the 'divine judgement' on the souls of the dead are well known, all the way back to the sarcophagi and the Book of the Dead of ancient Egypt.

Forensic concatenations, which demeaned the idea of divine Justice, which places just conditions and relations where they are not. But opinions and procedures became common to all beliefs in the Mediterranean basin and the ancient Middle East.

Now detached from the invasion of obsessive catechesis about the terrible Last Judgement populated by acolytes armed with pitchforks, we finally feel understood in a personal way; by exclusively vocational, not massified criteria.

By creaturely datum, we are souls called and activated to a path that can bear unrepeatable fruit - a decisive and untestable contribution to the whole of salvation history. Each one of us.

In the vision-proposal of Jesus the Lamb, our being is not omnipotent in goodness; this does not bring condemnation, not even to the powerless.

We are conformed to the need to receive love - as if we were children in front of Parents who precisely raise their children healthy with an overabundance of initiative, which leads them to surpass themselves.

This, in spite of tantrums; indeed, because of them: a magma of opposing yet malleable energies, which see further than easy identifications, and are preparing for later developments.

The experience of evangelical tenderness does not come from good character and social meekness. But from having experienced first-hand the value of eccentricities - and having developed an understanding of one's own dark sides, or reworked and brought into play deviations that at some point in one's life have become amazing resources.

Even the same evolution and transmutation can be seen in the aspects of ourselves that we do not like and would like to correct... then as the days go by they surprise us, and we discover they are the best part of ourselves: the true inclination and the reason we were born.

Each one's deviant and unbalanced character contains an essential secret of the Calling by Name and one's destiny.

This is the starting point for recognising the specific weight of differences and the equally enriching dissonances of sisters and brothers.

It is not goodism, that of the Lambs (oscillating in situation, and linked to contrived ways, devious interests or partisanship): the opposite!

As Pope Francis said: 'Lambs, not fools; but lambs'.

In personal life and in communion, evangelical Tenderness is real understanding and authentic inclusion of the 'different' - starting not from an erratic, momentary and circle (fickle) ideology but from one's own intimate and relational life experience.

It will lead us to experience a Father who provides well for us, just as we brighten the lives of others - enriching our own! - in the confluence and re-harmonisation of our many faces.

Tenderness in the round, convinced in earnest; without the standardised masks of the usual 'staples' of the banal (recited) 'tenderness' that is perhaps obligatory and activated by a weakened conforming identity.

This is the wise contagion that will revive us from the great global crisis: indulgence that does not become hysterical indolence.

And that does not remain sectoral - because it starts not from external manners or knots, but from being oneself and here recognising the You.

Together all brothers, seeds of the Logos.

For a Tenderness of Dialogue without neurosis.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

[…] John the Baptist was the forerunner, the "voice" sent to proclaim the Incarnate Word. Thus, commemorating his birth actually means celebrating Christ, the fulfilment of the promises of all the prophets, among whom the greatest was the Baptist, called to "prepare the way" for the Messiah (cf. Mt 11: 9-10).

All the Gospels introduce the narrative of Jesus' public life with the account of his baptism by John in the River Jordan. St Luke frames the Baptist's entrance on the scene in a solemn historical setting.

My book Jesus of Nazareth also begins with the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, an event which had enormous echoes in his day. People flocked from Jerusalem and every part of Judea to listen to John the Baptist and have themselves baptized in the river by him, confessing their sins (cf. Mk 1: 5).
The baptizing prophet became so famous that many asked themselves whether he was the Messiah. The Evangelist, however, specifically denied this: "I am not the Christ" (Jn 1: 20).

Nevertheless, he was the first "witness" of Jesus, having received instructions from Heaven: "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (Jn 1: 33).
This happened precisely when Jesus, after receiving baptism, emerged from the water: John saw the Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove. It was then that he "knew" the full reality of Jesus of Nazareth and began to make him "known to Israel" (Jn 1: 31), pointing him out as the Son of God and Redeemer of man: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1: 29).

As an authentic prophet, John bore witness to the truth without compromise. He denounced transgressions of God's commandments, even when it was the powerful who were responsible for them. Thus, when he accused Herod and Herodias of adultery, he paid with his life, sealing with martyrdom his service to Christ who is Truth in person.

Let us invoke his intercession, together with that of Mary Most Holy, so that also in our day the Church will remain ever faithful to Christ and courageously witness to his truth and his love for all.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus June 24, 2007]

"Heart of Jesus, victim of sins, have mercy on us".

1. Dear brothers and sisters, this invocation of the Litany of the Sacred Heart reminds us that Jesus, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, "was put to death for our sins" (Rom 4:25); although, in fact, he had committed no sin, "God treated him as sin for our sake" (2 Cor 5:21). On the Heart of Christ weighed, immense, the weight of the world's sin.

In him, the figure of the "Passover lamb" was perfectly fulfilled, the victim offered to God so that in the sign of his blood the first-born of the Hebrews might be spared (cf. Ex 12:21-27). Rightly, therefore, John the Baptist recognised in him the true "Lamb of God" (Jn 1:29): - innocent lamb, who had taken upon himself the sin of the world in order to immerse it in the healing waters of the Jordan (cf. Mt 3:3-16 et par.); - meek lamb, "led to the slaughter, as a sheep mute before her shearers" (Is 53:7), so that by his divine silence the proud word of unrighteous men might be confounded.

Jesus is a willing victim, because he offered himself "freely to his passion" (Missale Romanum, Prex euchar. II), as a victim of atonement for the sins of men (cf. Lev 1:4; Heb 10:5-10). which he consumed in the fire of his love.

2. Jesus is an eternal victim. Risen from the dead and glorified at the right hand of the Father, he preserves in his immortal body the marks of the wounds of the pierced hands and feet, of the pierced side (cf. Jn 20:27; Lk 24:39-40) and presents them to the Father in his unceasing prayer of intercession on our behalf (cf. Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34).

The admirable sequence of the Easter Mass, recalling this fact of our faith, exhorts:

"To the paschal victim, / let the sacrifice of praise rise today. / The lamb has redeemed his flock. / The innocent has reconciled us sinners with the Father" (Sequentia "Victimae Paschali", str. 1).

And the preface of that solemnity proclaims:

Christ is "the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world, / it is he who by dying destroyed death, / and by rising again gave us life".

3. Brothers and sisters, in this hour of the Marian prayer we have contemplated the Heart of Jesus, the victim of our sins; but first of all and more profoundly than all we contemplated his sorrowful Mother, of whom the liturgy sings: "For the sins of her people / she saw Jesus in the torments / of the harsh torment" (Sequentia "Stabat Mater", str 7).

As we approach the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Sorrows, let us remember this intrepid and interceding presence of Our Lady beneath the Cross of Calvary, and let us think with immense gratitude that, at that moment, the dying Christ, victim of the sins of the world, entrusted her to us as Mother: "Behold your Mother" (Jn 19:27).

To Mary we entrust our prayer, as we say to her Son Jesus:

Heart of Jesus,

victim of our sins,

receive our praise,

everlasting gratitude,

sincere repentance.
Have mercy on us,

today and always. Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 10 September 1989]

At the centre of today’s Gospel reading (Jn 1:29-34) there is this message of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29). It is a message accompanied by the gaze and the hand gesture that indicate Him, Jesus.

Let us imagine the scene. We are on the bank of the River Jordan. John is baptizing; there are many people, men and women of various ages, who have come there, to the river, to receive baptism from the hands of the man who reminded many of Elijah, the great Prophet who nine centuries before had purified the Israelites of idolatry and led them back to the true faith in the God of the Covenant, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

John preaches that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, that the Messiah is about to reveal himself, and one must prepare, convert and act with righteousness; and he begins to baptize in the River Jordan in order to give the people a tangible means of repentance (cf. Mt 3:1-6). These people came to repent their sins, to make penance, to begin their life anew. He knows; John knows that the Messiah, the Lord’s Consecrated One, is now nearby, and the sign to recognize Him will be that the Holy Spirit will descend upon Him. Indeed, He will bring the true baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 1:33).

And thus, the moment arrives: Jesus appears on the river bank, in the midst of the people, the sinners — like all of us. It is his first public act, the first thing he does when he leaves his home in Nazareth, at the age of 30: he goes down into Judea, goes to the Jordan, and is baptized by John. We know what happens. We celebrated it last Sunday: the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father proclaims him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:16-17). It is the sign that John has been waiting for. It is He! Jesus is the Messiah. John is disconcerted, because He manifests himself in an unimaginable way: in the midst of sinners, baptized with them, or rather, for them. But the Spirit enlightens John and helps him understand that in this way God’s justice is fulfilled, his plan of salvation is fulfilled: Jesus is the Messiah, the King of Israel, however, not with the power of this world but as the Lamb of God, who takes upon himself and takes away the sins of the world.

Thus, John points Him out to the people and to his disciples. Because John had a large circle of disciples, who had chosen him as a spiritual guide, and some of them actually become the first disciples of Jesus. We know their names well: Simon, later called Peter, his brother Andrew, James and his brother John. All were fishermen, all Galileans, like Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters, why have we focused so long on this scene? Because it is decisive! It is not an anecdote. It is a decisive historical fact! This scene is decisive for our faith; and it is also decisive for the Church’s mission. The Church, in every time, is called to do what John the Baptist did: point Jesus out to the people, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”. He is the One Saviour! He is the Lord, humble, in the midst of sinners, but it is He, He: there is no other powerful one who comes; no, no it is He!

These are the words that we priests repeat each day, during the Mass, when we present to the people the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. This liturgical gesture represents the whole mission of the Church, which she does not proclaim herself. Woe, woe when the Church proclaims herself; she loses her bearings, she doesn’t know where she is going! The Church proclaims Christ; she does not bring herself, she brings Christ. Because it is He and only He who saves his people from sin, frees them and guides them to land and to true freedom.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lamb of God, help us to believe in Him and follow Him.

[Pope Francis, Angelus January 15, 2017]

(Jn 1:19-28)

The Father’s heart is beyond divisive and purist expectations, which even the Baptizer considered indisputable and inculcated in his pupils.

God works only in favor of life: his actions are all positive - humanizing, recovery - not rejection.

‘Being’ is accentuated and rejoices only when the resources of each are discovered, welcomed, valued; not "repaired".

Traditional religions exorcise negative emotions, imperfection; they abhor the limit. They want relationships, things and souls always settled.

The Father, on the other hand, desires to bring life and blossom; therefore, He’s not always full of opinions.

He draws wonders that will make a sensation, right from the dark sides; transformed into sources of new magic.

Jesus knew the existential scarcity of all us: the needs, the growth; like every man. And he lived in himself and understood the value of exploration.

Instead of getting "tweaked" and reformed, the new Rabbi himself performed a non-conformist Exodus, which enriched him.

He too had to correct the initial path [as a disciple of John (v.27a) along with those who later became first Apostles] and change his mind: added value, not impurity.

He has done everything as we do, without unilateral attitudes; that is why we can truly recognise ourselves in Christ, in his Word, and in his very lovable story.

And recognize him as the Bridegroom of the soul (v.27b).

It’s such uniting dignity that involves in Love. We are not called to be strong regardless.

In his all-human Quest, Jesus has gradually understood that Father’s own Intimate Life is offered as Gift - a Surprise in our favour: impossible to coin it tailored to prejudices [ancient, or following the latest fashion].

The Most High displaces us all the time, and in no way follows established opinions, or mannerisms.

Happiness is out of sterile mechanisms that design the smallest details. It is rather Alliance with the shadowy side, which nevertheless belongs to us.

Sacred Covenant that transmits completeness of being: perception-threshold of the Joy.

In short, we are immersed in a Mystery of Gratuity and vital amazement that goes beyond normalized growth, under conditions.

Procedures of others. Cassian and finally also Thomas Aquinas would perhaps have classified them with the title of ‘spiritual vices’, as expressions derived from «fornicatio mentis» [et corporis].

While the Baptist and all the earnest tradition imagined having to ‘prepare’ so much for the coming of the Kingdom, Jesus instead proposed to ‘welcome’ it: the only possibility of Perfection and fruitful Youth.

We no longer exist in function of God - as in religions that always and everything dispose - but we live of Him, with astonishment and in an unrepeatable way.

It’s the end of models for "held persons", not natural.

To us uncertain, inadequate, incapable of miracle - Beautiful this reassurance!

Wealth is not outside of us.

[St. Basil and Gregory, January 2]

No one way

(Jn 1:19-28)

"Behind me" [v.27 Greek text] is the position of the disciple in relation to that taken by the master.

Jesus as a seeker chose the school of John, whose pupil he became, then deviated from it - even snatching away some admirers.

At some point in his journey he realised that our spiritual journey does not rest on easy exclusions: moralistic, one-sided, abstract - established by disinfecting nomenclatures (institutional or expelled).

The Father's heart is beyond divisive and purist expectations, which even the Baptiser considered unquestionable and inculcated in his pupils.

God works only in favour of life: his actions are all positive - humanising, restorative, awareness and integration of personal being - not rejection.

In his school one grows by treasuring oneself, relationships, things as they are and where they are; in an integral way. No one should be stagnant, or in competition with the other.

Non-negotiable principle: God and his children are in the middle, not in front.

No one is called to stand behind and follow: all must express themselves. On a vocational basis, everyone is already perfect!

This is why Jesus will invite his disciples, even those who are a little unhinged, to become fishers of men.

At all times, his intimates are called to breathe, drawing their brethren from whirlpools of death - not to become guides, directors and managers, i.e. 'shepherds'.

No one is destined to be good and dead in some flock, led by the know-it-all. Wealth is not outside us.

The only leader and model is the divine Spirit, who ceaselessly amazes.

Impetuous wind: you do not know where it comes from nor where it goes (Jn 3:8), but it exclusively transmits life - even from forms and events of death.

Being is accentuated and rejoices only when one's resources are discovered, not 'repaired'. And welcomed, valued, brought into play, amplified, exchanged, energised in a relationship of reciprocity.

God is not a sequester, and has multifaceted particular languages; for each of his children, his own unrepeatable path.

The Eternal One dreams for each of us an exceptional, unique, non-homologisable path and missionary fulfilment.

Traditional religions, for example, exorcise negative emotions, imperfection.

They abhor limitation, deny adversity; they are not OK with whatever happens. In fact, they want relationships, evidence, and souls always settled.

Too many forms of devotion preach inner warfare, even overtly.

So too, unfortunately, did John, setting women and men against themselves or their character, and spontaneous movements.

Guises that turn people into outsiders.

Conversely, the Father wants to bring life and blossom; therefore he is not always full of opinions.

The Lord draws wonders that will make a stir, precisely from the dark sides; transformed into sources of new magics.

To the early Christians, the disciples of the Baptist asked for explanations about Christ:

"You who believe Jesus to be the Messiah, do you not remember that it was our teacher who baptised him, joining him to his school? How can the Anointed One make himself a disciple of others, and have to learn something?"

The little children of God, however, had already passed from the pyramidal and apodictic mentality of the religions of the past [where models fall like lightning and instigate tribunals: vv.19-25] to the concrete idea of the Incarnation.

[The true theology of the Incarnation is completed in fieri, and in the meantime should sweep away all mental cages, even in the seemingly scruffy age of global crisis and critical emergency].

Even today, the engagement with history and its new energy are knocking out all clichés, even of belief.

But the anxiety it generates in us is for the birth of a new Life, more able to perceive: attentive and authentic.

Jesus knew everyone's existential penury: needs, ignorance, growth; like every man. And he experienced within himself and understood the natural-supernatural value of exploration.

Rather than having to be 'tweaked', reformed and castrated upstream, the new Rebbe made an even diverse and non-conformist Exodus himself, which enriched him.

He too had to correct his initial path [as a disciple of John (v.27a) along with those who later became the first Apostles] and recast himself: added value, not impurity.

He did everything as we do, without the disease of one-sided doctrinaireism; that is why we truly recognise ourselves in Christ, in his Word, and in his loving story.

And recognise him as the Bridegroom of the soul (v.27b).

It is fully human to proceed by trial and error, adjusting one's aim as one realises - healing one's approach, both to the intuition of the divine, and to the creaturely sense.Thus avoiding becoming neurotic by adaptation, because as one proceeds, each soul treasures the experiences and prepares to offer a personal synthesis.

It is this unitive dignity that engages in Love. We are not called to be strong-armed regardless.

The fake-secure then sow the most bizarre uncertainties, and make the worst trouble, for everyone.

They create environments that look like cemeteries frequented by depersonalised zombies [Pope Francis would say]. And cunning ones who direct.

In his all-too-human Quest, Jesus gradually understood that the Father's own intimate Life is offered as a Gift: a Surprise on our behalf.

Impossible to coin it to the measure of ancient prejudices.

Unlikely - therefore - to set up some kind of manifestation of the Messiah from our preconceptions, or U-shaped ethical conversions, laced with returns, set-ups, events, initiatives.

The Most High continually unsettles us, and by no means traces established opinions, or mannerisms.

Happiness is outside sterile mechanisms that plan the smallest details. It is rather Covenant with the shadow side, which nevertheless belongs to us.

Sacred Covenant that conveys completeness of being: perception-threshold of Joy.

In short, we are immersed in a Mystery of Gratuity and vital amazement that transcends normalised growth, all under conditions.

The Tao Tê Ching (LI) writes: "No one commands the Tao, but it always comes spontaneously". And Master Ho-shang Kung comments: "The Tao not only brings creatures to life, but also makes them grow, nourishes them, completes them, matures them, repairs them, develops them, keeps them whole in life.

The Father brings them to life in the Spirit, without a rigmarole of progressions in stages and steps.

Other people's procedures, which instead of regenerating existence always throw in our faces the suspicion that we are inadequate, bogged down, incapable of perfection, and old.

Cassian and eventually also Thomas Aquinas would perhaps have classified them under the title of 'spiritual vices', as expressions derived from 'fornicatio mentis' [et corporis].

While the Baptist and the whole serious tradition imagined that it was so much to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom, Jesus instead proposed to welcome it: the only possibility of Perfection and fruitful Youth.

We no longer exist as a function of God - as in religions that are always arranging everything - but we live from Him, in astonishment and in an unrepeatable way.

Master Ho-shang Kung again emphasises: 'The Tao makes creatures live, but it does not hold them as its own: what they take is for their benefit'.

This is the end of models for the 'held' - neither natural nor intuitive. Paradigms that have subjected civilisations to gruelling trials: they are not ours.

Even now, many hyperbole, and even 'religious' efforts, are not in favour of vocational paths in the first person.

The conformist and pre-packaged [glamorous or vain] paths appear ethereal, or renunciate, puritanical, voluntarist, athletic; as well as imaginative, but all schematic, and disembodied.

They always mount scaffolding far removed from the reality that comes, and from the genuine things of Heaven.

For those of us who are uncertain, inadequate, incapable of miracles - and who dislike cerebral ideologies or the separatism of all-singing, all-dancing heroes - Beautiful is this stubborn reassurance!

Wealth is not outside us.

To internalise and live the message:

Who is the Subject of your spiritual life? Where does he dwell?

This period of the liturgical year brings into the limelight the two figures who played a preeminent role in the preparation for the historic coming of the Lord Jesus: the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist. Today’s text from Mark’s Gospel focuses on the latter. Indeed, it describes the personality and mission of the Precursor of Christ (cf. Mk 1:2-8). Starting with his external appearance, John is presented as a very ascetic figure: he was clothed in camel-skin and his food was locusts and wild honey that he found in the Judaean desert (cf. Mk 1:6).

Jesus himself once compared him to the people “in kings’ houses” who are “clothed in soft raiment” (Mt 11:8). John the Baptist’s style must remind all Christians to opt for a lifestyle of moderation, especially in preparation for the celebration of the Christmas festivity, in which the Lord, as St Paul would say, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).

With regard to John’s mission, it was an extraordinary appeal to conversion: his baptism “is connected with an ardent call to a new way of thinking and acting, but above all with the proclamation of God’s judgment” (Jesus of Nazareth, I, p. 14; English translation, Doubleday, New York, 2007) and by the imminent appearance of the Messiah, described as “he who is mightier than I”, who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:7, 8).

John’s appeal therefore goes further and deeper than a lifestyle of moderation: it calls for inner conversion, based on the individual’s recognition and confession of his or her sin. While we are preparing for Christmas, it is important that we reenter ourselves and make a sincere examination of our life. Let us permit ourselves to be illuminated by a ray of light that shines from Bethlehem, the light of the One who is “the Mightiest” who made himself lowly, “the Strongest” who made himself weak.

All four Evangelists describe John the Baptist’s preaching with reference to a passage from the Prophet Isaiah: “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Is 40:3). Mark also inserted a citation from another prophet, Malachi, who said: “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way” (Mk 1:2; cf. Mal 3:1).

These references to Old Testament Scriptures “envisage a saving intervention of God, who emerges from his hiddenness to judge and to save; it is for this God that the door is to be opened and the way made ready” (Jesus of Nazareth, I, op. cit., p. 15).

Let us entrust to Mary, the Virgin of expectation, our journey towards the Lord who comes, as we continue on our Advent itinerary in order to prepare our hearts and our lives for the coming of the Emmanuel, God-with-us.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus December 4, 2011]

1. Fathers of the Church are rightly called those saints who, by the strength of their faith and the depth and richness of their teachings, regenerated and greatly increased it during the first centuries (cf. Gal 4:19; Vincentii Lirinensis "Commonitorium", I,3: PL 50, 641).

Truly "fathers" of the Church, because from them, through the Gospel, she received life (cf. 1 Cor 4:15). And also its builders, because from them - on the unique foundation laid by the apostles, which is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11) - the Church of God was built in its load-bearing structures.

From the life drawn from her fathers the Church still lives today; and on the structures laid by her first builders she is still being built today, in the joy and sorrow of her daily journey and labour.

Fathers, then, were, and remain, fathers forever: they themselves, in fact, are a stable structure of the Church, and for the Church of all centuries they fulfil an everlasting function. So that every subsequent proclamation and magisterium, if it is to be authentic, must be compared with their proclamation and magisterium; every charism and every ministry must draw from the vital source of their paternity; and every new stone, added to the holy edifice that grows and expands every day (cf. Eph 2:21), must fit into the structures already laid by them, and weld and connect with them.

Guided by these certainties, the Church does not tire of returning to their writings - full of wisdom and incapable of growing old - and of continually renewing their memory. It is therefore with great joy that in the course of the liturgical year we meet our fathers again and again: and each time we are confirmed in our faith and encouraged in our hope.

And even greater is our joy when particular circumstances invite us to meet them in a more prolonged and profound way. Of such a nature is precisely the occasion of this year, which marks the sixteenth centenary since the transit of our father Basil, Bishop of Caesarea.

2. The life and ministry of St Basil

Among the Greek fathers called 'great', in Byzantine liturgical texts Basil is invoked as 'light of piety' and 'luminary of the Church'. Indeed, he enlightened her and still enlightens her: no less by 'the purity of his life' than by the excellence of his doctrine. For the first and greatest teaching of the saints is still their lives.

Born into a family of saints, Basil also had the privilege of an elite education from the most reputable teachers in Constantinople and Athens.

But it seemed to him that his life really began only when, in a fuller and more decisive way, he was given to know Christ as his Lord: that is, when, irresistibly attracted by him, he practised that radical detachment that he would later inculcate so much in his teaching (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 8: PG 31, 933c-941a), and became his disciple.

He then set out to follow Christ, wishing to be conformed to him alone: looking to him alone, listening to him alone (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", LXXX,1: PG 31, 860bc), and in all things considering him his only "sovereign, king, physician, and teacher of truth" (S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I,1: PG 31, 1516b).

Without hesitation, therefore, he abandoned those studies that he had loved so much and from which he had drawn immense treasures of knowledge (cf. Gregorii Nazianzeni "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 525c-528c): having decided to serve God alone, he no longer wished to know anything apart from Christ (cf. 1 Cor 2:2), and he considered all wisdom other than that of the cross to be vanity. These are his own words, with which, already towards the end of his life, he recalled the event of his conversion: "I had wasted much time in vanity, losing almost all my youth in the vain work to which I applied myself in order to learn the teachings of that wisdom which God has made foolish (cf. 1 Cor 1:20); until one day, as if waking from a deep sleep, I looked upon the admirable light of the truth of the Gospel, and considered the futility of the wisdom of the princes of this world who are reduced to impotence (cf. 1 Cor 2:6). Then I wept much over my miserable life" (cf. St Basilii "Epistula" 223: PG 32, 824a).

He wept over his life, although even before - according to the testimony of Gregory of Nazianzen, his fellow student - it was humanly exemplary (cf. S.Gregorii Nazianzeni "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 521cd): it nevertheless seemed "miserable" to him, because it was not totally and exclusively consecrated to God, who is the only Lord.

With irrepressible impatience, he therefore interrupted the studies he had undertaken and, abandoning the masters of Hellenic wisdom, he "crossed many lands and many seas" (S.Basilii "Epistula" 204: PG 32, 753a) in search of other masters: those "fools" and the poor who in the deserts practised a very different wisdom.

He thus began to learn things that had never risen to the human heart (cf. 1 Cor 2:9), truths that rhetoricians and philosophers could never have taught him (cf. St Basilii "Epistula" 223": PG 32, 824bd). And in this new wisdom he then grew day by day, in a marvellous itinerary of grace: through prayer, mortification, the exercise of charity, continuous commerce with the holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers (cf. praesertim S.Basilii "Epistula" 2 et 22).

He was soon called to the ministry.

But even in the service of souls, with wise balance he was able to combine tireless preaching with spaces of solitude and ample prayer. In fact, he considered this to be of imperative necessity for the 'purification of the soul' (St Basilii "Epistula" 2: PG 32, 228a; cf. "Epistula" 210: PG 32, 769a), and thus so that the proclamation of the word could always be confirmed by the 'evident example' of life (St Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 43: PG 31, 1028a-1029b; cf. "Moralia", LXX, 10: PG 31, 824d-825b).

Thus he became a pastor and was at the same time, in the most substantial sense of the term, a monk; indeed, he was certainly among the greatest of the Church's monk-shepherds: a singularly complete figure of a bishop, and a great promoter and legislator of monasticism.

In fact, on the strength of his own personal experience, Basil strongly contributed to the formation of communities of Christians totally consecrated to "divine service" (S.Benedicti "Regula", Prologus), and took on the commitment and effort to support them with frequent visits (cf. S.Gregorii Nazianzeni "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 536b): for his own and their edification he entertained admirable conversations with them, many of which, by the grace of God, have been transmitted to us in writing (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", Proemium: PG 31, 1080ab). Various legislators of monasticism drew on these writings, not least St Benedict himself, who considers Basil as his teacher (cf. S.Benedicti "Regula", LXXIII,5); from these writings - directly or indirectly known - most of those who, in the East as in the West, embraced monastic life were inspired.

This is why it is believed by many that the capital structure of the Church's life that is monasticism was laid down, throughout the centuries, mainly by St Basil; or at least that it was not defined in its proper nature without his decisive contribution.

Basil had much to suffer for the evils in which the People of God groaned in that difficult hour (cf. St Basil "De iudicio": PG 31, 653b). He denounced them frankly, and, with lucidity and love, identified their causes, in order to courageously set about a vast work of reform. That is to say, the work - to be pursued in every age, to be renewed in every generation - aimed at restoring the Church of the Lord, "for whom Christ died and on whom he poured out his Spirit abundantly" (cf. St Basilii "De iudicio": PG 31, 653b), to its primitive form: to that normative image, beautiful and pure, that the word of Christ and the Acts of the Apostles convey to us. How many times does Basil recall, with passion and constructive nostalgia, the time when "the multitude of believers were one heart and one soul"! (Acts 4:32; cf. St Basilii "De iudicio": PG 36, 660c; cf. "Regulae fusius tractatae", 7: PG 31, 933c; cf. "Homilia tempore famis": PG 31, 325ab).

His reform efforts turned together, with harmony and completeness, to practically all aspects and spheres of Christian life.

By the very nature of his ministry, the Bishop is first and foremost pontiff of his people - and the People of God are first and foremost priestly people.

He cannot therefore in any way neglect the liturgy - its strength and richness, its beauty, its 'truth' - a Bishop who is truly concerned for the good of the Church. In his pastoral work, indeed, commitment to the liturgy logically stands at the apex of everything and concretely on top of every other choice: the liturgy, in fact - as the Second Vatican Council recalls - is "the summit towards which the action of the Church tends, and at the same time the source from which all its virtue flows" ("Sacrosanctum Concilium", 10), so that "no other action of the Church equals its effectiveness" ("Sacrosanctum Concilium", 7).

Basil showed himself perfectly aware of this, and the "legislator of monks" (cf. S.Gregorii Nazianzenii "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 541c) was also a wise "liturgical reformer".

Of his work in this sphere remains, a most precious legacy for the Church of all times, the anaphora that legitimately bears his name: the great Eucharistic prayer that, recast and enriched by him, is beautiful among the most beautiful.

Not only: the same fundamental ordering of the psalmody prayer had in him one of its greatest inspirers and creators (cf. S.Basilii "Epistula" 2 et "Regula fusius tractatae", 37: PG 31, 1013b-1016c). Thus, above all because of the impetus given by him, psalmody - "spiritual incense", breath and comfort of the People of God (cf. S.Basilii "In Psalmum" 1: PG 29, 212a-213c) - was greatly loved by the faithful in his Church, and became known to the young and the old, the learned and the uncultured (cf.) As Basil himself reports: 'Among us the people get up at night to go to the house of prayer,... and spend the night alternating between psalms and prayers' (St Basil "Epistula" 207: PG 32, 764ab). The psalms, which rumbled like thunder in the churches (cf. S.Gregorii Nazianzeni "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 561cd), were also heard resounding in the houses and squares (cf. S.Basilii "In Psalmum" 1: PG 29, 212c).

Basil loved the Church with jealous love (cf. 2 Cor 11:2): and knowing his virginity and his own faith, of the purity of this faith he was a most vigilant guardian.

For this she had to and knew how to fight with courage: not against men, but against every adulteration of the word of God (cf. 2 Cor 2:17), every falsification of the truth, every tampering with the holy deposit (cf. 1 Tim 6:20) handed down by the Fathers. His impetus therefore had nothing of passion: it was strength of love; and his clarity nothing of punctiliousness: it was delicacy of love.

Thus, from the beginning to the end of his ministry he fought to preserve intact the meaning of the Nicaean formula regarding the divinity of Christ "consubstantial" to the Father (cf. St Basilii "Epistula" 9: PG 32, 72a; "Epistula" 52: PG 32, 392b-396a; "Adv. Eunomium", I: PG 29, 556c); and equally he fought so that the glory of the Spirit should not be diminished, who, "being part of the Trinity and being of the divine and blessed nature of it" (S.Basilii "Epistula" 243: PG 32, 909a), must be with the Father and the Son connumerated and conglorified (cf.)

With firmness, and personally exposing himself to grave dangers, he also watched over and fought for the freedom of the Church: as a true bishop, he did not hesitate to oppose the rulers in order to defend his right and the right of the People of God to profess the truth and obey the Gospel (cf. St Gregorii Nazianzen "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 557c-561c). The Nazianzen, who relates a salient episode of this struggle, makes it very clear that the secret of his strength lay only in the very simplicity of his proclamation, in the clarity of his witness, and in the defenceless majesty of his priestly dignity (cf. S.Gregorii Nazianzeni "In laudem Basilii": PG 36, 561c-564b).

No less severity than against heresies and tyrants, Basil showed against misunderstandings and abuses within the Church: particularly, against worldliness and attachment to possessions.

What moved him was, still and always, the same love for the truth and the Gospel; although in a different way, it was still the Gospel, in fact, that was denied and contradicted: both by the error of the heresiarchs and by the selfishness of the rich.

In this regard, the texts of some of his speeches are memorable and remain exemplary: "Sell what you have and give it to the poor (Mt 19:22); ... for even if you have not killed or committed adultery or stolen or borne false witness, it is of no use to you if you do not also do the rest: only in this way can you enter the kingdom of God" (St Basilii "Homilia in divites": PG 31, 280b-281a). For whoever, according to God's commandment, wants to love his neighbour as himself (cf. Lev 19:18; Mt 19:19), "must possess nothing more than what his neighbour possesses" (S.Basilii "Homilia in divites" PG 31, 281b).

And even more passionately, in times of famine, he exhorted "not to show oneself more cruel than beasts,... by putting in your bosom what is common, and possessing alone what is everyone's" (cf. St Basilii "Homilia tempore famis": PG 31, 325a).

A disconcerting and beautiful radicalism, and a strong appeal to the Church of all times to seriously confront the Gospel.

To the Gospel, which commands love and service of the poor, in addition to these words Basil bore witness with immense works of charity; such as the construction, at the gates of Caesarea, of a gigantic hospice for the needy (cf. S.Basilii "Epistula" 94: PG 32, 488bc): a true city of mercy that he named Basiliades (cf. Sozosemi "Historia Eccl." VI, 34: PG 67, 1397a), also an authentic moment of the unique Gospel proclamation.

It was the same love for Christ and his Gospel that made him suffer so much from the divisions of the Church and that with such perseverance, hoping contra spem, made him seek a more effective and manifest communion with all the Churches (cf. St Basilii "Epistulae" 70 et 243).

It is the very truth of the Gospel, in fact, that is obscured by the discord of Christians, and it is Christ Himself who is torn by it (cf. 1 Cor 1:13). The division of believers contradicts the power of the one baptism (cf. Eph 4:4), which in Christ makes us one, indeed one mystical person (cf. Gal 3:28); it contradicts the sovereignty of Christ, the only king to whom all must equally be subject; it contradicts the authority and unifying force of the word of God, the only law to which all believers must unanimously obey (cf. St Basilii "De iudicio": PG 31, 653a-656c).

The division of the Churches is thus a fact so clearly and directly anti-Christological and anti-Biblical that, according to Basil, the way to the restoration of unity can only be the re-conversion of all to Christ and his word (cf. S.Basilii "De iudicio": PG 31, 660b-661a).

In the multifaceted exercise of his ministry Basil thus became, as prescribed for all heralds of the word, "an apostle and minister of Christ, a dispenser of the mysteries of God, a herald of the kingdom, a model and rule of piety, the eye of the body of the Church, a shepherd of Christ's sheep, a compassionate physician, a father and nurse, a co-operator of God, a farmer of God, a builder of God's temple" (cf. St Basilii "Moralia", LXXX,12-21: PG 31, 864b-868b).

And in such work and such struggle - arduous, painful, breathless - Basil offered his life (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", LXXX,18: PG 31, 865c) and consumed himself as a holocaust.

He died not yet fifty years old, consumed by fatigue and asceticism.

3. The Magisterium of St Basil

Having thus briefly recalled salient aspects of Basil's life and his commitment as a Christian and as a bishop, it seems right that we should attempt to draw at least some supreme indications from the extremely rich legacy of his writings. Relying on his school may provide light to better face the problems and difficulties of this very time, and thus help us for our present and our future.

It does not seem abstract to begin with what he taught about the Holy Trinity: it is certain, indeed, that there can be no better beginning, at least if one wants to conform to his own thinking.

On the other hand, what can impose itself more or be more normative for life than the mystery of God's life? Can there be a more significant and vital point of reference for man than this?

For the new man, who is conformed to this mystery in the intimate structure of his being and existence; and for every man, whether he knows it or not: for there is no one who has not been created for Christ, the eternal Word, and there is no one who is not called, by the Spirit and in the Spirit, to glorify the Father.

This is the primordial mystery, the holy Trinity: for it is nothing other than the very mystery of God, of the one living and true God.

Of this mystery, Basil firmly proclaims the reality: the triad of divine names, he says, certainly indicates three distinct hypostases (cf. S.Basilii "Adv. Eunomium", I: PG 29, 529a). But with no less firmness he confesses their absolute inaccessibility.

How lucid in him, the supreme theologian, was the awareness of the infirmity and inadequacy of all theologising!

No one, he said, is capable of doing it in a worthy manner, and the greatness of the mystery overcomes all discourse, so that not even the tongues of angels can grasp it (cf. St Basilii "Homilia de fide": PG 31, 464b-465a).

Abyssal and inscrutable reality, then, the living God! But nevertheless Basil knows that he 'must' speak of it, before and more than anything else. And so, believing, he speaks (cf. 2 Cor 4:13): out of an incoercible force of love, out of obedience to God's command, and for the edification of the Church, which "never gets tired of hearing such things" (St Basilii "Homilia de fide": PG 31, 464cd).

But perhaps it is more accurate to say that Basil, as a true "theologian", sings it rather than speaks of this mystery.

He sings of the Father: "The principle of everything, the cause of the being of what exists, the root of the living" (S.Basilii "Homilia de fide": PG 31, 465c), and above all "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" ("Anaphora S.Basilii"). And just as the Father is primarily in relation to the Son, so the Son - the Word who became flesh in Mary's womb - is primarily in relation to the Father.

This is how Basil contemplates and sings of Him: in the "inaccessible light", in the "ineffable power", in the "infinite greatness", in the "super-splendent glory" of the Trinitarian mystery, God near God (S.Basilii "Homilia de fide": PG 31, 465cd), "the image of the Father's goodness and the seal of form equal to Him" (cf.)

Only in this way, unambiguously confessing Christ as "one of the holy Trinity" ("Liturgia S.Ioannis Chrysostomi"), can Basil then see him with full realism in the annihilation of his humanity. And like few others does he know how to measure the infinite space he covered in our search; like few others does he know how to peer into the abyss of the humiliation of the one who "being in the form of God, emptied himself by taking the form of a servant" (Phil 2:6ff)

In Basil's teaching, the Christology of glory in no way attenuates the Christology of humiliation: on the contrary, it serves to proclaim with even greater force that central content of the Gospel which is the word of the cross (cf. 1 Cor 1:18) and the scandal of the cross (cf. Gal 5:11).

This is, in fact, a habitual pattern of his Christological discourse: it is the light of glory, which reveals the meaning of lowering.

Christ's obedience is the true "Gospel", that is, the paradoxical realisation of God's redemptive love, precisely because - and only if - the one who obeys is "the Only-Begotten Son of God, our Lord and God, the one through whom all things were made" (St Basilii "De iudicio": PG 31, 660b); and it is thus that it can bend our obstinate disobedience. The sufferings of Christ, the immaculate lamb who did not open his mouth against those who beat him (cf. Is 53:7), have infinite scope and eternal and universal value, precisely because he who thus suffered is "the creator and sovereign of heaven and earth, adorable beyond all intellectual and sensitive creatures, he who upholds everything with the word of his power" (cf. Heb 1:3; St Basilii "Homilia de ira": PG 31, 369b), and it is thus that Christ's passion dominates our violence and appeases our wrath.

The cross, finally, is truly our "only hope" ("Liturgia Horarum", "Hebdomada Sancta": Hymnus ad Vesperas) - not defeat, therefore, but a salvific event, "exaltation" (cf. Jn 8:32ff et alibi) and stupendous triumph - only because the one who was nailed to it and died there is "our Lord and Lord of all" (cf. Acts 10:36; S.Basilii "De Baptismo", II,12: PG 31, 1624b), "he through whom all things were made, the visible and the invisible, he who possesses life as the Father who gave it to him possesses it, he who from the Father has received all power" (S.Basilii "De Baptismo", II,13: PG 31, 1625c); and it is thus that the death of Christ frees us from that "fear of death" to which we were all enslaved (cf. Heb 2, 15).

"From him, the Christ, there shone forth the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of truth, the gift of filial adoption, the pledge of future inheritance, the firstfruits of eternal goods, the life-giving power, the source of sanctification, from whom every rational and intellectual creature receives power to worship the Father and to lift up to him the eternal doxology" (cf. "Anaphora S.Basilii").

This hymn of Basil's anaphora expresses well, in synthesis, the role of the Spirit in the salvific economy.

It is the Spirit who, given to every baptised person, works charisms in each one and reminds each one of the Lord's teachings (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1561a); it is the Spirit who animates the whole Church and orders and enlivens it with his gifts, making it all a "spiritual" and charismatic body (cf. S.Basilii "De Spiritu Sancto": PG 32, 181ab; "De iudicio": PG 31, 657c-660a).

Hence, Basil went back to the serene contemplation of the Spirit's "glory", which is mysterious and inaccessible: confessing him to be above every creature (cf. S.Basilii "De Spiritu Sancto", 22), sovereign and lord since by him we are deified (cf. S.Basilii "De Spiritu Sancto", 20 ff), and Holy by essence since by him we are sanctified (cf. S.Basilii "De Spiritu Sancto", 9 et 18). Having thus contributed to the formulation of the Church's Trinitarian faith, Basil still speaks to her heart and consoles her, particularly with the luminous confession of her Consoler.

The blazing light of the Trinitarian mystery certainly does not overshadow the glory of man: on the contrary, it exalts and reveals it most of all.

For man is not God's rival, madly opposed to him; nor is he without God, abandoned to the despair of his own loneliness. But he is a reflection of God and his image.

Therefore, the more God shines, the more his light reverberates from man; the more God is exalted, the more man's dignity is elevated.

And in this way, in fact, Basil celebrated man's dignity: seeing it all in relation to God, i.e. derived from him and aimed at him.

Essentially, to know God man has received intelligence, and to live in accordance with his law he has received freedom. And it is as an image that man transcends the whole order of nature and appears "more glorious than the heavens, more than the sun, more than the choirs of stars: for what heaven is called the image of the most high God?" (St Basilii "In Psalmum" 48: PG 29, 449c). 

Precisely for this reason, man's glory is radically conditioned to his relationship with God: man fully achieves his 'royal' dignity only by realising himself as an image, and only truly becomes himself by knowing and loving the One for whom he has reason and freedom.

Even before Basil, St Irenaeus admirably expressed it this way: "The glory of God is the living man; but the life of man is the vision of God" (St Irenaei "Adversus haereses", IV, 20, 7). The living man is in himself a glorification of God, as a ray of his beauty, but he has 'life' only by drawing it from God, in personal relationship with him. To fail in this task would be for man to betray his essential vocation, and thus deny and demean his own dignity (cf. St Basilii "In Psalmum" 48: PG 29, 449b-452a).

And what else is sin if not this? For did not Christ Himself come to restore and restore His glory to this image of God that is man, that is, to the image that man, through sin, had obscured (St Basilii "Homilia de malo": PG 31, 333a), corrupted (St Basilii "In Psalmum" 32: PG 29, 344b), broken? (St Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1537a).

Precisely for this reason - Basil affirms in the words of Scripture - "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14), and humbled himself so much that he became obedient unto death, and death on a cross" (cf. Phil 2:8; S.Basilii "In Psalmum" 48: PG 29, 452ab). Therefore, O man, "realise your greatness by considering the price paid for you: look at the price of your ransom, and understand your dignity!" (St Basilii "In Psalmum" 48: PG 29, 452b).

Man's dignity, then, is at once in the mystery of God, and in the mystery of the cross: this is Basil's "humanism", or - we might say more simply - Christian humanism.

The restoration of the image can therefore only be accomplished by virtue of Christ's cross: "It was his obedience unto death that became for us the redemption of sinners, freedom from the death that reigned through original guilt, reconciliation with God, the power to please God, the gift of justice, the communion of saints in eternal life, the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven" (St Basil "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1556b).

But this, for Basil, is tantamount to saying that all this is accomplished by virtue of baptism.

For what is baptism if not the salvific event of Christ's death, into which we are inserted through the celebration of the mystery? The sacramental mystery, the "imitation" of his death, immerses us in the reality of his death; as Paul writes: "Or do you not know that as many as have been baptised into Christ Jesus, we have been baptised into his death?" (Rom 6:3).

Basing himself precisely on the mysterious identity of baptism with the paschal event of Christ, following Paul, Basil also teaches that to be baptised is nothing other than to be truly crucified - that is, nailed with Christ to his unique cross - to truly die his death, to be buried with him in his burial, and consequently with him to rise from his resurrection (cf. S. Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2).

Consistently, therefore, he can refer to baptism the same titles of glory with which we have heard him extolling the cross: it too is "ransom for captives, remission of debts, death of sin, regeneration of the soul, garment of light, inviolable seal, vehicle for heaven, title for the kingdom, gift of filiation" (S.Basilii "In sanctum Baptisma": PG 31, 433ab). It is through it, in fact, that the union between man and Christ is welded, and that through Christ man is inserted into the very heart of the Trinitarian life: becoming spirit because he is born of the Spirit (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", XX,2: PG 31, 736d; "Moralia", LXXX,22: PG 31, 869a) and son because he is clothed with the Son, in a most lofty relationship with the Father of the Only-begotten who has now also become, truly, his Father (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1564c-1565b).

In the light of such a vigorous consideration of the baptismal mystery, the very meaning of the Christian life is revealed to Basil. Moreover, how else can one understand this mystery of the new man, if not by fixing one's gaze on the luminous point of his new birth, and on the divine power that in baptism has generated him?

"How does one define the Christian?", Basil asks; and he answers: "As one who is begotten of water and the Spirit in baptism" (St Basilii "Moralia", LXXX,22: PG 31, 868d).

Only in what we are is revealed, and what we are for.

As a new creature, the Christian, even when he is not fully aware of it, lives a new life; and in his deepest reality, even if by his actions he denies it, he is transferred to a new homeland, on earth already made heavenly (cf. St. Basili "Moralia", LXXX: PG 31, 868d). Basilii "De Spiritu Sancto": PG 32, 157c; "In sanctum Baptisma": PG 31, 429b): because the operation of God is infinitely and infallibly effective, and always remains to some extent beyond all denial and contradiction of man.

There remains, of course, the task - and it is, in essential relation to baptism, the very meaning of Christian life - of becoming what one is, adapting oneself to the new 'spiritual' and eschatological dimension of one's personal mystery. As St Basil expresses it, with his usual clarity: "The meaning and power of baptism is that the baptised person is transformed in thought, word and deed, and that he becomes - according to the power bestowed upon him - what he is from whom he was begotten" (St Basil "Moralia", XX, 2: PG 31, 736d).

The Eucharist, fulfilment of Christian initiation, is always considered by Basil to be closely related to baptism.

It is the only food suited to the new being of the baptised person and capable of sustaining his new life and nourishing his new energies (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo" I, 3: PG 31, 1573b); worship in spirit and truth, exercise of the new priesthood and perfect sacrifice of the new Israel (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", II, 2 ff et 8: PG 31, 1601c; S.Basilii "Epistula" 93: PG 32, 485a), only the Eucharist fully realises and perfects the new baptismal creation.

Therefore, it is a mystery of immense joy - only by singing can one participate in it (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia",XXI,4: PG 31, 741a) - and of infinite, tremendous holiness. How could one, being in a state of sin, treat the body of the Lord? (cf. St Basilii "De Baptismo", II,3: PG 31, 1585ab). The Church that communicates, should indeed be "without spot or wrinkle, holy and undefiled" (Eph 5:27; St Basilii "Moralia", LXXX, 22: PG 31, 869b): that is, it should always, with vigilant awareness of the mystery it celebrates, examine itself well (cf. 1Cor 11,28; S.Basilii "Moralia", XXI, 2: PG 31, 740ab), in order to purify itself more and more "from all contamination and impurity" (S.Basilii "De Baptismo" II, 3: PG 31, 1585ab).

On the other hand, abstaining from communion is not possible: to the Eucharist in fact, which is necessary for eternal life (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", XXI, 1: PG 31, 737c), baptism itself is ordained, and the people of the baptised must be pure precisely to participate in the Eucharist (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", LXXX, 22: PG 31, 869b).

Only the Eucharist on the other hand, true memorial of the paschal mystery of Christ, is capable of keeping awake in us the memory of his love. It is therefore the secret of the Church's vigilance: it would be too easy for her, otherwise, without the divine efficacy of this continuous and sweet reminder, without the penetrating power of this gaze of her bridegroom fixed on her, to fall into oblivion, insensitivity, infidelity. For this purpose it was instituted, according to the words of the Lord: 'Do this in memory of me' (1 Cor 11:24 ff. et par.); and for this purpose, consequently, it must be celebrated.

Basil does not tire of repeating it: "To remember" (S.Basilii "Moralia", XXI, 3: PG 31, 740b); indeed, to remember always, "for the indelible remembrance" (S.Basilii "Moralia", XXI, 3: PG 31, 1576d), "to keep unceasingly the memory of him who died and rose again for us" (S.Basilii "Moralia", LXXX, 22: PG 31, 1869b).

Only the Eucharist therefore, by God's design and gift, can truly keep in the heart "the seal" (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 5: PG 31, 921b) of that memory of Christ that, clasping as in a vice, prevents us from sinning. It is therefore particularly in relation to the Eucharist that Basil takes up Paul's text: "The love of Christ grips us, at the thought that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all, so that those who live may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again for them" (2 Cor 5:14 ff).

But what then is this living for Christ - or "living wholly for God" - if not the very content of the baptismal covenant? (cf. St Basilii "De Baptismo", II,1: PG 31, 1581a).

Also in this aspect, therefore, the Eucharist appears to be the fullness of baptism: it alone, in fact, allows one to live it faithfully and continually actualises it in its power of grace.

This is why Basil does not hesitate to recommend frequent, or even daily, communion: "Communing even daily by receiving the holy body and blood of Christ is a good and useful thing; for he himself says clearly: 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life' (Jn 6:54). Who then will doubt that to continually communicate life is not to live to the full?" (St Basilii "Epistula" 93: PG 32, 484b).

True "food of eternal life" capable of nourishing the new life of the baptised person is, like the Eucharist, also "every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3; S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 3: PG 31, 1573bc). 

It is Basil himself who strongly establishes this fundamental link between the table of the word of God and that of the body of Christ (cf. Dei Verbum, 21). Although in a different way, in fact, Scripture too, like the Eucharist, is divine, holy, and necessary.

Truly divine, Basil affirms with singular energy: that is, 'of God' in the most proper sense. God himself inspired it (cf. S.Basilii "De iudicio": PG 31, 664d; S.Basilii "De fide": PG 31, 677a; etc.), God validated it (cf. S.Basilii "De fide": PG 31, 680b), God pronounced it through the hagiographers (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 13: PG 31, 1092a; "Adv. Eunomium", II: PG 29, 597c; etc.). - Moses, the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 1: PG 31, 1524d) - and above all through his Son (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1561c); he, the only Lord: both in the Old and the New Testament (cf.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 47: PG 31, 1113a), certainly with different degrees of intensity and different fullness of revelation (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 276: PG 31, 1276cd; "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1545b), but also without a shadow of contradiction (cf.)

Of divine substance although made up of human words, Scripture is therefore infinitely authoritative: the source of faith, according to the words of Paul (cf. Rom 10:17; S.Basilii "Moralia", LXXX,22: PG 31, 868c), it is the foundation of a full, undoubted, unwavering certainty (S.Basilii "Moralia", LXXX,22: PG 31, 868c). Since it is all of God, it is all, in every smallest part, infinitely important and worthy of extreme attention (cf. S.Basilii "In Hexaem.", VI: PG 29, 144c; "In Hexaem.", VIII: PG 29, 184c).

And for this reason, too, Scripture is rightly called holy: for just as it would be terrible sacrilege to profane the Eucharist, it would also be sacrilege to attack the integrity and purity of the word of God.

It cannot therefore be understood according to human categories, but in the light of his own teachings, almost "asking the Lord himself for the interpretation of the things he said" (S.Basilii "De Baptismo", II, 4: PG 31, 1589b); and one can neither "take away nor add anything" to those divine texts delivered to the Church for all time, to those holy words pronounced by God once and for all (cf. S.Basilii "De fide": PG 31, 680ab; "Moralia", LXXX, 22: PG 31, 868c).

It is of vital necessity, in fact, that the relationship with the word of God should always be adoring, faithful, and loving. Essentially, the Church must draw from it for her proclamation (cf. S.Basilii "In Psalmum" 115: PG 30, 105c 108a), allowing herself to be guided by the very words of her Lord (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1533c), so as not to risk "reducing the words of religion to human words" (S.Basilii "Epistula" 140: PG 32, 588b). And every Christian must refer to Scripture "always and everywhere" for all his choices (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 269: PG 31, 1268c), making himself before it "like a child" (cf. Mk 10, 15; S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 217: PG 31, 1225bc; S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1560ab), seeking in it the most effective remedy against all his various infirmities (cf. S.Basilii "In Psalmum" 1: PG 29, 209a), and not daring to take a step without being enlightened by the divine rays of those words (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 1: PG 31, 1081a).

Authentically Christian, all of Basil's magisterium is, as we have seen, 'gospel', the joyful proclamation of salvation.

Is not the confession of God's glory radiating on man in his image full of joy and a source of joy?

Is not the proclamation of the victory of the cross, in which, "through the greatness of God's mercy and the multitude of God's mercies" (S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 10: PG 31, 1088c), our sins were forgiven even before we committed them? (cf. St Basilii "Regulae bravius tractatae", 12: PG 31, 1089b). What more consoling proclamation is there than that of baptism that regenerates us, of the Eucharist that nourishes us, of the Word that enlightens us?

But for this very reason, so as not to have silenced or diminished the saving and transforming power of God's work and of the "energies of the future century" (cf. Heb 6:5), Basil can ask everyone, with great firmness, for total love for God, unreserved dedication, perfection of evangelical life (cf. St Basilii "Moralia", LXXX, 22: PG 31, 869c).

For if baptism is grace - and what grace! - those who have attained it have indeed received "the power and strength to please God" (S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 10: PG 31, 1088c), and are therefore "all equally bound to conform to that grace", that is to "live in conformity with the Gospel" (S.Basilii "De Baptismo", II,1: PG 31, 15980ac). 

"All equally": there are no second-class Christians, simply because there are no different baptisms, and because the meaning of the Christian life is all intrinsically contained in the one baptismal covenant (S.Basilii "De Baptismo", II,1: PG 31, 1580ac).

"To live in conformity with the Gospel": what does this mean, concretely, according to Basil?

It means tending, with all the longing of one's being (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae brevius tractatae", 157: PG 31, 1185a) and with all the new energies one has at one's disposal, to achieve "God's pleasure" (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", I, 5: PG 31, 704a et passim)

It means, for example, "not to be rich, but to be poor, according to the word of the Lord" (cf. S.Basilii "Moralia", XLVIII,3: PG 31, 769a), thus realising a fundamental condition to be able to follow Him (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 10: PG 31, 944d-945a) with freedom (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 8: PG 31, 940bc; "Regulae fusius tractatae", 237: PG 31, 1241b), and manifesting, in comparison to the prevailing norm of worldly living, the newness of the Gospel (cf. S.Basilii "De Baptismo", I, 2: PG 31, 1544d). It means submitting oneself totally to the word of God, renouncing "one's own will" (cf. S.Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 6 et 41: PG 31, 925c et 1021a) and becoming obedient, in imitation of Christ, "unto death" (cf. Phil 2:8; St Basilii "Regulae fusius tractatae", 28: PG 31, 989b; "Regulae brevius tractatae", 119: PG 31, 1161d et passim).

Truly, Basil did not blush for the Gospel: but, knowing that it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (cf. Rom 1:16) he proclaimed it with that integrity (cf. St Basil "Moralia", LXXX, 12: PG 31, 864b) that makes it fully the word of grace and the source of life.

Finally, we like to note that St Basil, although more soberly than his brother St Gregory of Nyssa and his friend St Gregory of Nazianzus, celebrates Mary's virginity (cf. S.Basilii "In sanctam Christi generationem", 5: PG 31, 1468b): he calls Mary "prophetess" (cf.Basilii "In Isaiam", 208: PG 30, 477b) and with a felicitous expression thus justifies Mary's betrothal to Joseph: "This was done in order that virginity might be honoured and marriage might not be despised" (cf. S.Basilii "In sanctam Christi generationem", 3: PG 31, 1464a).

St Basil's anaphora, quoted above, contains lofty praise of the "all holy, immaculate, ultra-blessed and glorious Lady Mother-of-God and ever-virgin Mary"; "Woman full of grace, exultation of all creation...".

4. Conclusion

Of this great saint and teacher all of us, in the Church, glory to be disciples and children: let us therefore reconsider his example, and listen with veneration to his teachings, with intimate readiness to let ourselves be admonished, comforted and exhorted.

We entrust this message in a special way to the numerous religious orders - male and female - that honour themselves with the name and tutelage of Saint Basil and follow his Rule, committing them on this happy anniversary to resolutions of new fervour in a life of asceticism and contemplation of divine things, which then overflow into holy works for the glory of God and the edification of holy Church. For the happy attainment of these ends, we also implore the maternal help of the Virgin Mary, as an augury of heavenly gifts and pledge of our benevolence, with great affection we impart to you our apostolic blessing.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 2 January, on the memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church, in the year 1980, the second of my Pontificate.

JOHN PAUL II

[Patres Ecclesiae; Apostolic Letter for the XVI Centenary of the Death of St Basil]

This passage from the Gospel of John (cf. 12:44-50) shows us the intimacy there was between Jesus and the Father. Jesus did what the Father told Him to do. And therefore He says: “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me” (v. 44). He then explains His mission: “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (v. 46). He presents himself as light. Jesus’s mission is to enlighten: light. He himself said: “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12). The Prophet Isaiah prophesied this light: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (9:1). The promise of the light that will enlighten the people. And the mission of the Apostles too was to bring light. Paul said to King Agrippa: “I was chosen to enlighten, to bring this light – which is not mine, but another’s – but to bring light” (cf. Acts 26:18). It is Jesus’s mission: to bring light. And the mission of the Apostles was to bring the light of Jesus. To enlighten. Because the world was in darkness.

But the tragedy of Jesus’s light is that it was rejected. From the beginning of the Gospel, John said it clearly: “He came to His own home, and His own people did not welcome Him. They loved darkness more than light' (cf. Jn 1:9-11). Being accustomed to darkness, living in darkness: they did not know how to accept the light, they could not; they were slaves to darkness. And this would be Jesus’s continuous battle: to enlighten, to bring the light that shows things as they are, as they exist; it shows freedom, it shows truth, it shows the path on which to go with the light of Jesus.

Paul had this experience of the passage from darkness to light, when the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus. He was blinded. Blind. The Lord’s light blinded him. And then, when a few days had passed, with baptism, he regained the light (cf. Acts 9:1-19). He had this experience of passing from darkness, in which he was, to the light. And our passage too, which we received sacramentally in Baptism: for this reason Baptism was called, in the first centuries, the Illumination (cf. Saint Justin, Apology I, 61, 12), because it gave you the light, it “let it enter” you. For this reason, in the ceremony of Baptism we give a lit blessed candle, a lit candle to the mother and father, because the little boy or the little girl is enlightened.

Jesus brings light. But the people, His people rejected it. They were so accustomed to the darkness that the light blinded them, they did not know where to go… (cf. Jn 1:1-11). And this is the tragedy of our sin: sin blinds us and we cannot tolerate the light. Our eyes are sick. And Jesus clearly states it in the Gospel of Matthew: “If your eye is not sound, your whole body will be unsound. If your eye sees only darkness, how great is the darkness within you!” (cf. Mt 6:22-23). Darkness… And conversion is passing from darkness to light.

But what are the things that sicken the eyes, the eyes of faith? Our eyes are ill: what are the things that “drag them down”, that blind them? Vices, the worldly spirit, pride. The vices that “drag you down” and also these three things – vices, pride, the worldly spirit – lead you to associate with others in order to remain secure in the darkness. We often speak of “mafias”: this is it. But there are “spiritual mafias”; there are “domestic mafias”, always, seeking someone else so as to cover yourself and remain in darkness. It is not easy to live in the light. The light shows many ugly things within us that we do not want to see: vices, sins… Let us think about our vices; let us think about our pride; let us think about our worldly spirit: These things blind us; they distance us from Jesus’s light.

But if we start to think about these things, we will not find a wall, no. We will find a way out, because Jesus Himself says that He is the light, and also: “I have come into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world” (cf. Jn 12:46-47). Jesus Himself, the light, says: “Take courage: let yourself be enlightened; let yourself see what you have within, because I have come to lead you forth, to save you. I do not condemn you. I save you” (cf. v. 47). The Lord saves us from the darkness we have within, from the darkness of daily life, of social life, of political life, of national, international life… There is so much darkness within. And the Lord saves us. But He asks us to see them, first; to have the courage to see our darkness so that the Lord's light may enter and save us.

Let us not fear the Lord: He is very good; He is meek; He is close to us. He has come to save us. Let us not be afraid of the light of Jesus.

[Pope Francis, homily st. Martha May 6, 2020]

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us! Best wishes for these Christmas holidays and for the new year 2025. 

Feast of the Holy Family [29th December 2024]

First Reading (1 Sam 1:20... 28)

 *Life is a gift from God 

Samuel is a child of a miracle! We are around 1200 BC, a period in Israel's history that is rarely spoken of. It is the end of the time of the Judges and there was still no king to rule over all the people. When Moses died and the people entered the Promised Land, the tribes settled in the territory, which they conquered progressively during about one hundred and fifty years. There was still no centralised administration and the tribes were led by chiefs called Judges, in the sense of 'governors', a kind of military, political and religious leaders capable of settling all disputes. This was before the time of the monarchy so that neither Jerusalem nor the Temple existed and the Ark of the Covenant, which had accompanied the people throughout the Exodus, stood in a sanctuary at Silo, in the centre of the country, some thirty kilometres north of present-day Jerusalem. Because Silo housed the Ark, the town had become a centre of annual pilgrimage and the custodian of that sanctuary was a priest named Eli. Near Silo lived a man named Elkanah, who had two wives: Anna and Peninna. Anna was Elkanah's favourite wife, but she was barren while Peninna had children of whom she was very proud and lost no opportunity to insinuate that Anna's barrenness was a curse from God. The most difficult time of the year for Anna was the pilgrimage to Silo: Elkanah went there with both wives, and everyone could see Anna's sadness, which contrasted with Peninna's joy as she felt like an accomplished mother. In those moments, Anna felt the weight of her infertility even more acutely. In her grief and humiliation, she could do nothing but weep and whisper with trembling lips her prayer, always the same: Please Lord, give me the gift of a son, so much so that the priest Eli, thinking she was drunk, one day rebuked her: Go somewhere else to dispose of the wine!

And it was here that the miracle took place. God, who knows people's hearts, saw Anne's tears and heard her prayer. A few months later a child was born, whom Anna named Samuel - one of the meanings of this name is God hears, God hears. In her grief, Anne had made a vow: "Almighty Lord, if you deign to look upon the humiliation of your servant and give me a son, I will consecrate him to you all the days of his life" (1 Samuel 1:11). When the child was weaned, at the age of about three years, Anna took him to the sanctuary in Shiloh and entrusted him to the priest Eli, saying to him: 'I am that woman who stood here next to you praying to the Lord. It was to obtain this child that I prayed, and the Lord gave him to me in response to my request. Now, in my turn, I give him to the Lord: he will remain consecrated to the Lord all the days of his life'. Samuel grew up in Shiloh, and there he heard God's call and later became a great servant of Israel. Why is this text proposed on the occasion of the feast of the Holy Family, and what links the two children, Jesus and Samuel, the two mothers, Mary and Anna, and the two fathers, Joseph and Elkanah? We can make a few observations about these two families separated from each other by more than a thousand years. First of all, God listens. Samuel means God listens, God hears, and this is the fundamental religious experience of Israel: God hears the cry of the poor and humble. Anne, at the moment of her deepest humiliation, cried out to the Lord and He heard her. The Canticle of Anna, after the birth of Samuel, is very reminiscent of Mary's Magnificat, which flowed from the lips of a humble young woman from Nazareth. Secondly, God acts through human families. God's project is fulfilled through human events, through normal and imperfect families, and the mystery of the Incarnation goes so far: God has the patience to accompany our maturation and our journey. Moreover, these are two miraculous, extraordinary births. Jesus was born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit, Samuel of a barren mother. In the Bible there is a long series of miraculous births: Isaac from Sarah, Abraham's wife, barren and continually humiliated by her rival Hagar, Ishmael's mother. God took pity on Sarah, and Isaac was born; Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist and Jesus.  These miraculous births are a reminder that every child is a miracle, a gift from God, and parenthood means transmitting life, but without being able to say 'giving life' because it is only God who can give it.  Whether physical or spiritual parenthood, we can all lend our bodies and lives to the divine plan and we are instruments of this divine gift

Responsorial Psalm 83 (84), 3. 4. 5-6. 9-10

*Blessed is he who dwells in your house

When the pilgrim is on his way to Jerusalem, from the depths of his devotion and toil he can exclaim: "My soul yearns and longs for the atria of the Lord, my heart and my flesh exult in the living God".  Pilgrimage is indispensable for a life of faith, because when we are on our way to God, we can experience that we are a people journeying towards a goal, and in the difficulties of the journey experience physical weariness and the demands of the heart, discovering in this often tiring experience the wonders of faith. It is only when we recognise that our own strength is not enough that a new strength can take possession of us, enabling us to continue our journey to the goal. But for this to happen, the pilgrim, having reached the limit of his strength, must recognise himself as fragile and helpless as a bird. Then he will be given new wings: "Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest to lay her young, by your altars, Lord of hosts, my King and my God! (v.4)

In our life, which is also a pilgrimage towards the heavenly Jerusalem, how often one is tempted to abandon everything, discouraged by small efforts that seem futile. It is enough, however, to invoke help, to recognise our powerlessness, and we receive a new strength, which is not our own: "Blessed is the man who finds his refuge in you" (v.6). And once the pilgrimage has been completed, it is necessary to set out again, facing the fatigue of returning to daily life, with its difficulties and the impossibility of fully sharing the spiritual experience just lived with those who remained behind. And here the pilgrim dreams of never having to leave again: "Blessed is he who dwells in your house: without end he sings your praises" (v.5). The reference is to the Levites, whose life is entirely consecrated to the service of the Temple in Jerusalem and even before the Temple was built, as we saw in the first reading, there were sanctuaries where priests had the privilege of dwelling, such as the priest Eli and the young Samuel.

In a broader sense, the 'inhabitants of the house of God' are the members of the chosen people, and pilgrimages are always marked by gratitude and wonder for this gratuitous choice of God on behalf of his people. The Jews know that, eventually, with the arrival of the Messiah, all men will be called to be inhabitants of the house of God and this messianic dimension is present in the psalm: "Look, O God, on him who is our shield, look on the face of the anointed one" (v.10). One glimpses here the dream of the final ascent to Jerusalem, announced by the prophets, when the whole of humanity will be gathered in joy on the holy mountain, around the Messiah. The verses read on this Sunday express above all the pilgrim's toil and prayer. In other verses, however, the love for the Temple, the love for Jerusalem, is sung, together with the deep joy and confidence that dwell in the believer. Twice God is called our 'shield', the one who protects us. There are also two "beatitudes": "Blessed is he who dwells in your house: without end he sings your praises" (v.5) and "Blessed is the man who finds his refuge in you and has your ways in his heart" (v.6). And the last verse of the psalm is again a "beatitude" that we do not read today: "Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you" (v.13). It is the fortune of the poor and humble, of the 'bent' (in Hebrew anawim), to discover the only thing that really counts: our only true good is in God.

Jesus repeated it this way: "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to the little ones" (Mt 11:25). It is really worthwhile, if you have time, to reread this psalm in its entirety:

2 How lovely are your dwellings, Lord of hosts!

3 My soul yearns and desires the atria of the Lord, my heart and my flesh

exult in the living God.

4 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest to lay her young:

At thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

5 Blessed is he who dwells in your house: Endlessly he sings your praises.

6 Blessed is the man who finds his refuge in you, and has your ways in his heart.

7 Passing through the valley of weeping He changes it into a spring; Even the first rain

clothes it with blessings.

8 It grows in strength along the way, until it appears before God in Zion.

9 Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer, give ear, God of Jacob.

10 Behold, O God, he who is our shield, behold the face of your anointed one.

11 Yea, it is better one day in thy atria than a thousand in my house; To stand upon the threshold of the house of my God, It is better than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

12 For sun and shield is the Lord God; The Lord giveth grace and glory, He refuseth not good to him that walketh in integrity.13 Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who in you 

Second Reading: from the First Letter of St John the Apostle (1, 3,1-2.21-24)

 * To know how to contemplate 

"Beloved, see ...": John invites to contemplation, because the key to the life of faith of every believer is knowing how to look, that is, the whole of human history is an education of man's gaze. "They have eyes but they do not see": how many times does this exclamation recur in the Bible! But what is there to see? St Paul would answer that it is necessary to contemplate God's love for mankind, his plan of infinite merciful love, and St John basically speaks of this alone in today's second reading. Let us pause to reflect on the theme of the gaze and God's plan that the Apostle John contemplates. learning to see means discovering the face of God who is love, while the opposite can happen when the gaze becomes distorted as it did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Well known is the story that begins by describing the garden with many trees: "The Lord God caused to spring up out of the ground all kinds of trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen 2:9). The tree of life is in the middle of the garden, but the position of the tree of knowledge is not specified and God allows the fruits of all trees, including the tree of life, to be eaten except the tree of knowledge. The serpent, with an apparently innocent question, changes Eve's perception: "Is it true that God said, "You must not eat of any tree in the garden?" (Gen 3:1) and Eve answers, but by then her gaze has already changed: it was enough to listen to the serpent to become confused so that she sees the forbidden tree in the centre of the garden, instead of the tree of life. From that moment on, his gaze is drawn to the forbidden. The serpent continues: "You will not die at all. On the contrary, God knows that the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil' (3:5)". Eve sees that the tree is good to eat, beautiful to look at and desirable to acquire wisdom. Her gaze is now transformed and leads her to disobey. Once Eve and Adam ate the fruit they "realised they were naked", they did not become like God, but discovered their own vulnerability. What connection can this account have with John's text? The story of Adam and Eve explains the drama of humanity: a distorted image of God. John, on the contrary, invites us to see: 'See', that is, learn to look because God is not man's rival, but pure love. This is John's central theme: 'God is love' and the true life of man consists in never doubting this. Jesus says to the apostles in the Upper Room: "This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and him whom you have sent, Jesus Christ" (John 17: 3) 

"See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and truly are so": we read this in today's text from John. Baptism has grafted us into Christ, making us children of God, as the evangelist writes in the prologue of the Fourth Gospel: "To all those who received him, however, he gave power to become children of God" (1:12), placing them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who teaches them to call him "Abba, Father!". If for believers this is clear, for non-believers it is incomprehensible, unbelievable or even scandalous, as St John points out. Indeed, he writes that the world does not recognise us because it has not come to know God. That is, the world has not yet opened its eyes and it is up to us to reveal God through our words and our testimony. When the Son of God manifests himself, all mankind will be transformed into his image. Then we understand why Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew the gift of God!" (Jn 4:10), while here St John invites: "Beloved, see". John invites us to contemplation, because it is the key to the life of faith: knowing how to look; he invites us to rectify our gaze on God, recognising him as a Father full of tenderness and mercy, and it is up to us to reveal him with our lives to those who do not yet know him.

Gospel ( Lk 2:41-52)

* Like Mary and Joseph, called to grow in faith

"He came among his own, and his own did not receive him" (Jn 1:11): this phrase from the prologue of John's gospel seems to find an illustration in today's account of Luke's gospel. An episode from Jesus' childhood that shows us both the manifestation of the mystery of Christ and the incomprehension on the part of his family. That his family had travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover is not surprising, nor is the fact that they stayed there for eight days, since the two feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, now combined, lasted precisely eight days. It is surprising that the twelve-year-old son stays at the Temple without notifying his parents, who set off from Jerusalem with their caravan, as they do every year, without checking whether he was with them. This separation lasts three days, a number that Luke intentionally indicates. When they finally reunite, the three are not on the same wavelength: Mary's affectionate rebuke, still shaken by the anguish of those days, clashes with her son's sincere astonishment: 'Why did you look for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"(Lk 2:49). 

Let us now see in what the manifestation of the mystery of Jesus resides: first of all, in the admiration of all, especially the doctors of the Law, before the light that dwells in him. It also resides in the mention of the three days, which in the Bible represent the time needed to meet God: three days will also be those between the burial and the Resurrection, the definitive victory of life. Finally, it resides in Jesus' extraordinary statement: 'I must be about my Father's business'.  With this statement, he clearly reveals himself as the Son of God. At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel had already presented him as 'Son of the Most High', a title that could be understood as that of the Messiah; but now the revelation goes further: the title of Son, referring to Jesus, is not only royal, but expresses his divine filiation. It is not surprising that this was not immediately understood! Even his parents find it difficult to understand: and Jesus dares to ask them: "Did you not know?"  Even deep and fervent believers like Joseph and Mary are bewildered by the mysteries of God. This should reassure us: we should not be surprised if we too struggle to understand! We must never forget the words of Isaiah: 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, your ways are not my ways - oracle of the Lord. As much as heaven overhangs the earth, so much my ways overhang your ways, my thoughts overhang your thoughts" (Is 55:8-9). The gospel makes it clear that Mary did not understand everything immediately either: she kept everything in her heart and tried to understand it by meditating on it. After the shepherds' visit to the Bethlehem grotto, we already read: 'Mary kept all these things by pondering them in her heart' (Lk 2:19). Luke proposes an example for us to follow here: accepting not to understand everything right away and letting meditation dig into us. Mary's faith, like ours, is a journey not without difficulties. All this takes place in the Temple of Jerusalem, which for the Jews was the sign of God's presence among his people. For Christians, on the other hand, the true Temple of God is now the body of Christ himself, the place par excellence of his presence. Today's account is one of the stages of this revelation. Luke is probably thinking of the prophecy of Malachi: "And immediately the Lord whom you seek, the angel of the covenant whom you long for, will enter his temple; behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts" (Ml 3:1).

The last sentence of Luke's account is significant: "Jesus grew in wisdom, age, and grace before God and man" . This indicates that Jesus, like every child, needed to grow. The mystery of the Incarnation goes so far: Jesus is fully man, and God is patient with our spiritual growth. For Him, a thousand years are like a day (Ps 89/90). Finally, an apparent contradiction may come as a surprise: Jesus tells his parents "I must attend to the things of my Father", but immediately afterwards he returns with them to Nazareth. He does not remain in the stone Temple, just as Samuel did not remain there, consecrated to the Lord but then called to serve the people outside the Temple. This too is a teaching: "To be occupied with the things of the Father means to dedicate one's life to the service of others, not necessarily within the walls of a temple. To be with the Father means, first of all, to be in the service of his children. Finally, it should be noted that Luke's gospel begins and ends in the Temple of Jerusalem: it is there that the announcement to Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist (which means 'God has done grace') takes place. It is in the Temple that Simeon, on the day of the Presentation of Jesus, proclaims the arrival of God's salvation. And it is also in the Temple that the disciples return after Christ's ascension, at the end of Luke's Gospel. A concrete lesson for us to cherish. We are called, like Mary and Joseph, to know how to meditate and grow in faith in order to be able to occupy ourselves unceasingly with the things of our heavenly Father. And this translates in practice into the commitment to serve men without always remaining in the temple. Basically, this is the message that Luke will reveal in the course of his gospel and that is to know how to combine contemplation with apostolic action, a harmonious synthesis of faith and life.

+ Giovanni D’Ercole